Apparatus for removing fly



A. F. HAYES APPARATUS FOR REMOVING FLY F'lled March 22, 1954 Dec. 25, 1956 QORNEYS.'

\ BY A Mfg/Mal.

United States Patent() APPARATUS FR REMQVlNG FLY Arthur F. Hayes, Uxbridge, Mass. Application March 22, 1954, Serial No. 417,732 7 Claims. (Cl. 1998) This invention relates to a system and apparatus for reducing fly in a carding room and is a continuation-inpart of cci-pending application Serial No. 261,415, led Deceinber 13, 1951, and now abandoned.

In the carding of bers and particularly in the manufacture of woolen and worsted material the presence in the carding room of a substantial amount of fly impairs the quality of the fabric, as well as4 affecting the working conditions within the room. The tlyings cling to the card, light xtures, sprinkler pipes, and to the ceiling of the card room. They also increase the maintenance cost and decrease the eiiiciency of an air conditioning system. Where materials of different color are being run on different cards within the same room the ilyings of one color tend to settle on the material of the other color. Placing screens between cards is only partially successful in dealing with this problem.

The desirability of reducing or eliminating flyings in a card room has long been recognized as well as the fact that the fancy of the carding machine is the origin of most of the flying. Shields have been positioned over the fancy, but have not been satisfactory due to the fact that the yings accumulate on the under side of the shield for awhile and then drop back into the card in bunches, thus impairing the quality of the work.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple system and apparatus for overcoming the deficiencies of the prior art and substantially reducing fly in a carding room.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, arrangements of parts, and in the several steps and relation and vorder of each of said steps to one or more of thev others thereof, all as will be pointed out in the following description, and the scope of the application yof which will be indicated in the following claims.

The invention will best be understood if the following description is read in connection with the drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective View showing an embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 2 is an end View with the end wall of the hood removed, said hood being shown in section.

A woolen carding unit comprises a fancy, a worker and a doffer. gether and some card rooms contain a large number of carding assemblies. s

The unit shown comprises the carding cylinder 10, the worker 12, the fancy 14, and the doEer 16. Extending over and partly around the fancy of each unit is a hood or cover identified generally by the numeral 18. The hood comprises portions 20, 22, 24 and 26, which extends over and around the fancy 14 from Worker 12 to the doifer 16 and the end members 28 which extend over the respective ends of the fancy into close proximity to the surfaces of the worker, the cylinder and the dolfer, and into over- Three of these units are usually assembled to '2,7 74,994 Patented Dee. 25, 1.956

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2 lapping relation with cylinder side plates 48 which are preferably also provided.

Portion 26 of the hood extends upwardly from' the doier in a plane which as shown in the embodiment of the invention illustrated herein passes vertically substantially through the axis of the doffer. The top portion 20 extends from adjacent the worker 12 to the portion 22 which is bent upwardly into a plane substantially parallel with portion 26. Portion 22 extends to the top portion 24 which is disposed at right angles to portion 22 and extends from said portion 22` to said portion 26. Hood portions 20, 22 and the upper part of portion 26 vthus form between them a channel-like portion 27,which, as illustrated, communicates at one end with a branch conduit 29, which in turn communicates with a main' conduit 30 leading to a fan' 32 which serves to reduce pressure in said main conduit and said branch conduit thereby causing air to be' sucked into' the hood.

It will be understood that a plurality of branch conduits 29 leading respectively from a plurality of carding units may be connected at intervals to said main conduit 30.

The hood 18 is made adjustable in length toward the worker 12 and toward the doffer 16. As shown the portion 20 has therein slots s, and a slide member 34 is provided with wing nuts 36 which extend through said slots respectively and are movable along said slots to move said slide member toward or away from the worker 12. Upwardly extending flanges 38 are provided on said hood ends 28 respectively, substantially aligned with the periphery of worker 12, which serve as stop means for slide member 34 preventing it from actual contact with said worker 12.

The hood portion 26 also has therein slots s and a slide member 40 provided with the wing nut means 42 which extend through said slots respectively and are movable along said slots to move said slide 40 toward or away from the surface of doffer 16. v

By adjustment of said slide members 34 and 40 more or less air can be sucked into the hood adjacent the worker and the doffer respectively. Thus a plurality of increments of air can be drawn into the hood in more or less opposed directions, and one increment of air can be employed to modify and control another. It will be understood that air which is drawn in from adjacent the worker 12 for example will counter and tend to neutralize the suction force of air being drawn into the hood from adjacent the dofer 16. A control is thus provided whereby a sufficient stream of air can be drawn through the hood to entrain and exhaust from the hood ily intercepted therein without pulling bers off of the worker or other elements of the unit assembly.

eli.

The 'relative amounts of air drawn into the hood from adjacent the worker and the doffer may be varied according to the material being treated. In commercial operation of the apparatus very satisfactory results have been obtained using the adjustable slide 40 adjacent to the doffer primarily for varying the amounts of air drawn through the hood, and using the adjustable slide 34 adjacent the worker primarily to obtain a close iit to the worker, but also adjusting the position of slide 34 to admit varying amounts of air to counter and modify the stream of air admitted adjacent the doffer, depending upon the particular stock that is being run.

As shown herein the trunnions 44 of the fancy extend through the ends of the hood which are respectively slotted with slot means 46 for convenience in position'- ing the hood.

Preferably side plates 48 are provided extending over the ends of the cylinder radially into close proximity to, and overlapping relation with, the ends 28 of the hood or cover 18. The side plates 48 may be mounted on cylinder arches which may be part of the card frames and which are not shown herein as they form no part of this invention and may be of known construction. Since the cylinder and the doffer are very nearly in contact the said hood or cover 18 provides a substantial closure around the fancy into which the admission of air is substantially controlled by adjustment of said slides 34 and 40. By adjusting the position of the slide members and thus substantially controlling the amount of air admitted into the cover or hood sufficient air may be continuously drawn through the hood or cover to effectively remove fly, and by relative adjustment of said slide members 34 and 40 the suction force of the air drawn into the hood may be modified and controlled so as not to remove stock from the worker or other unit elements.

By the method and means disclosed herein proper fancy speeds can be maintained at all times and higher card cylinder speeds are made practical. Thus frequent stripping of the card is rendered unnecessary and even removal of fancy waste across the width of the card results in roving of more uniform quality. Increased card yields are obtained since the fancy y is collected and can be returned to the feed hopper, stock losses being reduced to a minimum. Cost of maintenance is substantially reduced for instead of being thrown into the air and precipitated down over the sides of the card, overhead xtures, adjacent cards and the surrounding floor the fancy y is collected and can be returned directly to an automatic feed hopper (not shown). Furthermore the danger of having accumulated overhead waste drop onto the card resulting in uneven and faulty roving is removed and contamination of different blends and colors being run on adjacent cards is prevented. These advantages are in addition to elimination of extra labor costs for frequent cleaning and brushing down accumulated waste, and the provision of healthier and more pleasant surroundings for the operators.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided by this invention a method and apparatus in which the various objects hereinabove set forth together with many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved. As various possible embodiments might be made of the mechanical features of the above invention and as the art herein described might be varied in Various parts, all without 4departing from the scope `of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

l. Apparatus for collecting and removing fly from a carding machine including a card cylinder, a fancy, a worker and a doffer, which comprises a hood extending over the fancy from the worker to the doffer including end portions extending down over the respective ends of the fancy, said hood thus coacting with the worker, the cylinder and the doffer to provide an enclosure for the fancy, a portion of said hood being adjustable toward and away from the dotfer to admit a controlled amount of air into said enclosure from adjacent the doffer, a conduit leading from the hood, and means for reducing the pressure within said conduit to cause air to be drawn into said hood to entrain and exhaust from the hood y intercepted -in and collected by said hood and at the same time to draw into the hood adjacent said doffer sufficient air to prevent the total suction force within said hood from removing stock which is on the worker.

2. Apparatus for collecting and removing iiy from a carding machine including a card cylinder, a fancy, a worker and a dotfer, which comprises a hood extending over the fancy from close proximity to the worker to close proximity to the doer including end portions extending down over the respective ends of the fancy, said hood thus coacting with the surfaces of the cylinder,

worker and doier to provide a substantial enclosure for the fancy, a portion of said hood being adjustable toward and away from the worker to admit a controlled amount of air into the hood from adjacent the worker, a conduit leading from the hood, and means for reducing the pressure within said conduit to cause air to be drawn into said hood to entrain and exhaust from the hood fly intercepted in and collected by said hood and at the same time to draw into the hood adjacent said worker suff1 cient air to prevent the total suction force within said hood from removing stock which is on the worker.

3. Apparatus for collecting and removing fly from a carding machine including a card cylinder, a fancy, a worker and a doffer, which comprises a hood extending over the fancy from the worker to the doffer including end portions extending down over the respective ends of the fancy, said hood thus coacting with the worker, the cylinder and the doffer to provide a substantial enclosure for the fancy, a conduit leading from the hood and means for reducing the pressure within said conduit, portions of said hood being adjustable toward and away from the doffer and toward and away from said worker to admit into the hood a plurality of streams of air and to provide control means by which to modify one stream of air by means of the other to thereby control the total suction force within said, hood and prevent the total suction force within said hood from disturbing stock on said worker.

4. Apparatus for collecting and removing iiy from a carding machine, including a card cylinder, a fancy, a worker, and a doffer, which comprises plates at the opposite ends of the card cylinder projecting radially beyond the periphery of said cylinder, a hood extending over the fancy from the worker to the doifer, including end portions extending over the respective ends of the fancy and overlapping the said plates at the respective ends of said card cylinder and the ends of said doifer respectively, a conduit leading from the hood, means for reducing the pressure within said conduit to cause air to be drawn into said hood to entrain and exhaust from the hood tiy intercepted in and collected by said hood, said hood including adjustable means for permitting and ycontrolling the admission of air into the closure defined by the hood to prevent the suction force within said hood t from removing stock which is on the worker.

5. Apparatus for collecting and removing fly from a carding machine including a card cylinder, a fancy, a worker and a doifer which comprises, a hood bridging the bight between the cylinder and the dotfer and extending over the fancy between the worker and card cylinder and the doffer, means for reducing pressure within the hood to draw into the hood air from above the bight between the card cylinder and the doffer, and means for controlling the suction force within the hood by admitting into the hood a plurality `of streams of air flowing in substantially opposed directions, said hood having a port, and means for regulating the size of said port to admit an air stream in a direction substantially opposite to the flow of air drawn into the hood from above the bight between the card cylinder and the doter.

6. Apparatus for collecting and removing fly from a carding machine including a card cylinder, a fancy, a worker and a dotfer, which comprises a hood extending over and partially around the fancy, from adjacent the surface of the worker to adjacent the surface of the doifer and enclosing the ends of said fancy, said hood and worker forming a partial closure extending into close proximity to the surfaces of the cylinder and doifer over the bight between the cylinder and the doffer, said hood having an adjustable portion along a side edge for adjusting the width of the hood, a conduit connected to said hood, and means for exerting a suction force within said conduit to cause air to be drawn into the hood, the force of the air sucked into the hood from the bight between the cylinder and the dofer being modied and controlled by the amount of air drawn into the hood from along its said adjustable side edge portion.

7. Apparatus for collecting and removing fly from a carding machine including a card cylinder, a fancy, a worker and a doier which comprises, a hood bridging the bight between the cylinder and the doer and extending over the fancy between the worker and card cylindeax and the doffer in proximity to the worker and the doier respectively, means for reducing pressure within the hood to draw air from above the bight between the card cylinder and the doler and between the hood and the doer and between the hood and the worker, and means for adjusting the width of said hood for controlling the relative amounts of air drawn into the hood between the hood and the doier and between the hood and the worker to modify the force of any single air stream drawn into the hood and to prevent the total suction force within said hood from removing stock which is on the worker.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,071,035 Fauquet Aug. 26, 1913 1,206,408 Broome Nov. 28, 1916 1,575,528 Bokum Mar. 2, 1926 2,241,151 Miller May 6, 1941 2,396,571 Gwaltney Mar. 12, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 26,968 Great Britain of 1898 

